According to the star, seeing people on a fishing trip inspired him to stop eating animals.

Injustice

He told the outlet that seeing people stun fish they had caught, by bashing them on the side of a boat, provoked a 'profound strong reaction in him'.

Phoenix added: "It felt like a real injustice. It wasn’t just me, it was my siblings, all of my siblings, except for the youngest, Summer, she wasn't born.

"My mom was pregnant with her. I don’t know how to explain it. I think it made me distrustful, and angry, and frightened of humans, humanity.

"I just thought it was such a gross abuse of power in a way. I think that during that moment we knew that we were not going to eat meat anymore.

"We said to our parents, 'why didn’t you tell us?' It's amazing. I remember my mom's face, I remember her crying. She didn’t know how to answer. It became very obvious we weren’t going to eat meat anymore."

PBN recently revealed that Phoenix will be featured in documentary Dominion

Vegan

A few months later, the family ditched all animal products after Phoenix's brother said they should be using dairy.

According to the actor, his brother said: "We shouldn't be using dairy either. It’s not killing them, but..."

Phoenix admitted he has deviated from the course though - confessing that he ate a pizza at a friend's house when he was a child. But it didn't end well.

Maria is the Editor of Plant Based News. A former magazine editor, newspaper reporter, and features writer, her work has been published by The Guardian, The Huffington Post, and various regional newspapers, as well as Vegan Life magazine and Vegan Trade Journal. She has interviewed a huge range of people, from Prime Ministers to authors, activists, pop stars and actors, and enjoys the varied range of topics writing for PBN allows her to tackle. You can follow her on Twitter @MariaChiorando and Instagram @mariachiorando.

(c) 2018 Plant Based News LTD. All Rights Reserved. Content must not be copied without permission.

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